


The Ritual of Kreonusi

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Midnight Texas (TV)
Genre: Additional Characters, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Families of Choice, Gen, Ghosts/Spirits, Happy Ending, Magic, Some Humor, Temporary Character Death, invented mythical creature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 09:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12724233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: When a supernatural creature kills Olivia, Manfred is not only the one person who can see her spirit, but the only one who can bring her back by completing a complex ritual. But the greatest sacrifice the spell requires is his silence; Manfred can speak to Olivia, but not of the hope of bringing her back, and must watch the rest of the Midnight family mourn as he makes his preparations.





	The Ritual of Kreonusi

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chosenfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chosenfire/gifts).



Fiji was sobbing, a tissue balled up in one fist. Bobo had one arm wrapped around her as he perched on the pew beside her, almost as distraught as she was. Joe and Chuy were silent, holding hands. A solemn Madonna fanned herself with her hat, warm from the heat of the dozens of candles they'd all lit. Lem was conspicuous by his absence though Manfred didn't blame him for leaving town. They'd waited until nightfall to begin the service, to give him the option of attending, but no-one expected him to return.

Emilio finished the prayer. A mumbled, communal, amen, followed. There was silence.

"Does anyone have anything else to say?" Emilio asked.

No-one did. They'd all said their piece, recalled Olivia's strength, intelligence, protectiveness. She had been their friend and they would mourn her.

There was no body to bury. The memorial over, they made their way toward Home Cooking where Madonna, leading the way, had laid out a small spread. Olivia's favourite snacks and drinks were on offer. They'd toast to her memory. They'd try to move on.

"Manfred?"

Joe had noticed him hanging back.

"I'll be there in a minute," Manfred said. His breath hung heavy in the cool night air. "I just need a moment."

Joe nodded solemnly and continued on his way, wrapping one arm around Chuy's waist. Chuy leaned into Joe, his head nestled at Joe’s shoulder.

"Did you say nice things about me at my funeral?"

Manfred turned and fixed his gaze on Olivia. "Really?"

"I know you did. I might not be able to enter the church but I stood by the window."

He shook his head, not angry with Olivia, but frustrated that the memorial service had gone ahead at all. "I tried to put them off. I wish that I could tell them the truth."

"I don't make the rules," she said with a shrug. She moved to sit upon the hood of a parked car, or at least appeared to. They were still working out the limits of her spirit form. 

It had happened so fast. A few days ago the beast had come into Midnight. It was part bull, part horse, part human. Dripping with ichor it was screaming its rage, kicking out with powerful hooves, threatening to gore with long curved horns, grabbing at anything in reach with human hands. The hands, the human mouth that issued the horrible bellows, they were somehow the worst of all.

Bobo had shot at it. Fiji had tried to repel it with magic. Joe had used his Light. These things barely slowed the creature down. Manfred ran back to his van, scrabbling under the bed for an ancient tome, flipping the yellowed pages with frantic fingers. Vague memories of reading the book as a child and being terrified by the nightmarish pictures had resurfaced at the sight of the creature. He paused at one page, two-thirds of the way through the book.

_Nusartusio: the Beast of Xerokampos_

There was no mistaking this was the creature, given the illustration which, while accurate, could not do justice to the horror they were facing. He scanned the text, found what he was looking for. There was a way to kill it.

Manfred dashed back to the crossroads. Lem had grabbed the creature by its throat but even as his fingers closed to crush its windpipe it kicked and bucked, using all six limbs to try and dislodge him. Lem was thrown into a tree trunk, the entire tree shuddering from the impact.

"A flaming arrow," Manfred called, almost out of breath, the book still clutched in his hand. "In its heart."

In under a minute Olivia had her crossbow ready, Bobo dipping arrows in motor oil. Locked and loaded, Olivia nodded to Joe. He flicked his lighter, the flame catching the arrowhead.

Olivia moved two steps forward and took aim. It only took one shot. The beast screamed. But, as it burst into flames, it pointed one finger. Fire shot forth.

Time stood still but not for long enough.

"No!" Manfred was too late, could only watch as the inevitable happened.

Olivia and the beast were both gone, literally up in smoke. A few drops of ichor and some oil was all that remained. There was a shocked silence broken by Lem's anguished cries.

Manfred found himself sitting on the ground, numb. People were moving around him, there were tears, pleas, shouting. It was separate to him, otherwordly.

He blinked, his vision blurry. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his sleeve. In the other hand he still had the book, one finger marking the page.

Manfred scanned the text again. He ought to have paused and taken in the details. He should have known what would happen. He read the words again. "The beast can be killed by one method only; a flaming arrow fired directly into its heart."

He flipped the page. It gave him little comfort that there was no warning given in the next paragraph, nothing to suggest it could inflict a fiery demise upon its attackers. It did give further instructions.

"The area of the beast's demise should be cleansed with saltwater or, in honour of the Greek origins of this creature, retsina."

He'd have to tell the others that.

But Olivia was dead. What else mattered?

Manfred swallowed hard.

"There is one interesting complication associated with this beast," the book went on. "Its most recent victims, those killed by the creature during the previous moon cycle, can be resurrected under specific circumstances."

The world stopped again.

Manfred blinked. He was about to call out but this time caution prevailed and luckily so.

"First, you require a seer of the dead."

Check.

"Second, the seer must make contact with the deceased. Third, the seer must not inform any other person of the deceased's presence."

He had to find Olivia. If she hadn't passed over there was hope! So long as he kept his mouth shut.

"Fourth, the seer must, on the night of the dark moon, perform the ritual of Kreonusi. If successful, the deceased person or people will be resurrected."

"What's the ritual of Kreonusi?"

Manfred nearly jumped out of his skin. Olivia was standing behind him, peering over his shoulder.

"Olivia."

"I'd say 'in the flesh' but…" She gave a harsh laugh.

Manfred reached out but his hand went straight through her. "This is no time to joke."

"Perfect time to joke," Olivia returned. "So, this ritual?"

He didn't get chance to answer.

"Manfred?" Joe, eyes damp, was approaching him. "Are you all right?"

He shook his head. Looked at Olivia. At the book.

Joe moved to sit beside him. "She saved us all."

"Yes," Manfred said. He closed the book.

The days after that had been hell. He'd had to watch his friends mourn and be unable to offer them comfort, to tell them there was still hope. He felt like the mute sister in the fairy tale, stitching cloaks made from stinging nettles for her brothers so they could shed their swan form and become human once more.

He'd tried to explain this to Olivia. Because she was drawn to him and had, she said, nowhere else to be, she was a near constant presence. He could have slept in his house, warded against the dead, but he slept in the van because much as she was irritating at times (he didn't really blame her, he'd be annoyed at being dead too) they needed each other.

"She had to stay silent for years while stinging her hands," Olivia had scoffed. "All you have to do is not talk about me for a couple more days of the waning moon and grind up some rocks."

The book contained the Ritual of Kreonusi in an appendix and Manfred had pored over it, thankful that the ingredients were fairly easy to acquire.

Grinding up the specified crystals was in some cases easy and some cases difficult, different stones being of varying hardness. Luckily the stones he needed weren’t too obscure. He'd acquired some of them from Fiji, because he could pass them off as stones to help with grief. Others he'd had to get more creative to obtain. 

He could have used the Internet but they were racing against time and he didn’t trust even the Guaranteed Next Day Delivery promises. No point getting his money back for a late package if he lost Olivia because of a mishap at the sorting office. So he'd driven into Davy to visit the gift store there, which sold items like amethyst keychains and rose quartz pendants. He'd also stopped in the hardware store and purchased the sturdiest looking mortar and pestle he could find, as well as a hammer and chisel to break the stones into smaller pieces to begin with.

Meanwhile, Bobo was convinced Manfred was feeling guilty – and he was, just not for the reason Bobo assumed – and kept trying to drag him to Home Cooking rather than spend all his time alone.

"Come and have dinner with us. We need our family more than ever," he said. Manfred had given in and gone to eat with them.

Fiji had fussed over the blister Manfred had given himself from the repetitive motion of the pestle against the marble mortar. Olivia, watching from the counter, rolled her eyes.

That first night Lem had gone into the desert, mourning beneath the stars, hiding who knew where in the day. He'd snarled at Bobo and Emilio when they'd gone to find him the following evening. When he did finally return it was to pack a few items and leave without another word.

“We’ll get him back,” Manfred promised Olivia, trying to reassure her. “As soon as we get you back.”

It was Emilio who said they needed a funeral. No body to bury, no Lem to oversee the arrangements, but a loss they were all feeling and needed to acknowledge. Manfred had suggested they wait, though he couldn't give a good reason why, and was outvoted.

The memorial service was more time taken away from his preparations for the ritual. He'd felt more like a fraud than ever, standing in front of his friends and talking about Olivia as if she was never coming back.

"The first day I met Olivia she punched me in the face. There was nowhere to go but up after that," he said, raising a few chuckles. "I came to respect her. Fear her, sometimes, but respect her. Trust her. Care for her."

The honesty stung his eyes. He shook his head. "Olivia will always be in our hearts."

Fiji nodded, tears streaming down her face. Manfred retook his seat, eager for the service to be over so he could resume his work.

The service at least was over now.

"I don't make the rules either," Manfred told Olivia's spirit, glancing around to make sure no-one was watching him. "The new moon is almost here and the ingredients are almost ready. I'll have to go and have one drink with the others or they'll know something's up."

"Come on, then." Olivia led the way to Home Cooking, walking through the closed door. Manfred shoved it open and followed her in.

Bobo gave him a hug and then a beer. Manfred gave him a sad smile and retreated to sit alone. He mulled over the ritual once more.

He'd followed the instructions to prepare for it. Dark moon, aka new moon, check. Tomorrow at 6:05pm. He didn't know how exact the timing had to be and no-one could have been so accurate back when the book had been written, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

Crystals, various, ground, check. He'd found, smashed, ground all the named crystals into a fine powder, mixed them together clockwise with a silver spoon. He'd had to buy the silver spoon from Bobo's store.

"I've got some steel teaspoons you can have," Bobo had offered. "Unless you feel like being fancy."

"It's a psychic thing," Manfred bluffed. "Silver for good luck, you know."

"Sure," Bobo had said.

Next to be added to the mixture was Blood of Hestia; a quick Internet search reassured Manfred this was another name for chamomile, and so easy to obtain. Salt and olive oil were next. Wine; he'd chosen retsina. They'd cleansed the crossroads with saltwater but he recalled that specific wine mentioned and thought it a good choice. It was an ancient Greek wine, the flavour originally coming from the practice of sealing amphorae with Aleppo pine resin. It was as traditional as he could get, though buying it had involved a long conversation with the retailer in the liquor store and a rather more expensive outlay than he'd planned on.

"I'll reimburse you when you bring me back," Olivia told him. "That should help with your motivation."

Manfred had also carved two tall white candles with specific sigils as instructed. He'd memorised the words he had to speak – thankfully English was acceptable.

There was one final ingredient that had to be added to the mixture the morning of the ritual. "Unshed blood ". Manfred had a steak in the fridge. He hadn't killed the cow personally and the blood wasn't coming from a wound but the meat, which surely had to count.

Thus assured, Manfred sipped his beer as the wake progressed. He excused himself as soon as he felt it polite and went home. He had a busy day tomorrow and wanted to be well rested.

He didn't recall the dream fully when he woke next morning, only that he had been dreaming, and that there had been blood involved. He got up and washed his face, shaken.

"You okay?" Olivia was sitting in the driver's seat, watching him in the rear view mirror.

"I need to check something." Manfred found out another old book. There was a list of correspondences and substitutions in the back, along with alternative names for various substances. 

“More spells?” Oliva asked.

“No. In the days before Google and Bing, if you didn't know what Blood of Hestia was you could use this book to look it up and find it is also known as Water of Youth, ground apple, maythen, or chamomile,” Manfred explained. “If you don’t have any chamomile you can then look up other plants related to the element of water or the Sun, and use one of those that also matches the specific purpose you need such as prosperity or healing.”

“Google’s probably quicker.”

Manfred laughed. “Probably. But some of this lore has been lost outside of ancient books that’s no-one scanned or otherwise uploaded to a website.”

He did not find "Unshed Blood", but did find "Blood, Unshed".

"Fuck."

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"We're screwed," Manfred said, showing her the page.

"Fuck," Olivia agreed.

In desperation, Manfred made his way across to Fiji's store, cheeks already burning with embarrassment. She looked up from the cash register where she was sorting change.

"Hey, Manfred."

"I need something," he said. "Please don't scream or call me a pervert or ask me why I need it."

She slid the drawer shut with a clink. "Now I'm intrigued."

He took a deep breath. "I need some blood."

She didn't even blink. "Any particular kind?"

"Menstrual blood."

Fiji stared at him for a long moment. "How much?" she asked at last.

"Um, at least ten drops."

"Turn around. Close your eyes."

Manfred did so. He half-expected Fiji to flee the store or call Bobo to come and punch him. He heard a cupboard open and shut.

"All right, come here."

Manfred opened his eyes. Fiji held out a tiny glass bottle of red liquid, sealed with an actual cork stopper.

"This is a tincture containing my blood," she said as he held out his hand. "My essence. Promise me you are not doing anything I would disapprove of."

"I swear it," he said. Fiji dropped the bottle into his palm, closed his fingers over it. Manfred left the store, elation and renewed embarrassment flooding through him.

Olivia was relieved when he returned with the final ingredient. She was pacing the RV, occasionally walking through the furniture in the cramped space. He understood she hadn't wanted to come with him to the store, lest he was unsuccessful.

The alcohol in the tincture had stopped the blood clotting but had surely diluted it a little. He added twenty drops of the mixture to make certain he had enough, and put the cork back in the bottle, planning to return the rest to Fiji later.

He anointed the candles with a little of the mixture, then covered the bowl with a cotton cloth and placed it in the fridge.

"I'm going to go over the ritual again, make sure I have the words right," he said.

"After that mishap you had better. We only get one chance." Olivia watched as he read the book, repeated the words, read the book again. He needed this to be perfect. He’d written the words out in a notebook to help memorise them, but he didn’t want to be trying to read by candlelight. Better the words were safe in his head than on a flimsy piece of paper.

He didn’t dare change a word of the incantation either. It specified victims rather than victim; Manfred was only aware of Olivia’s death, but if he brought back anyone else who’d been killed during the last month that was fine by him. They’d deal with that if and when it was necessary.

At last it was six pm. Manfred took his supplies to the crossroads, setting up where the beast had been killed. He lit both the candles and poured the mixture between them where it spread across the ground.

"Manfred? What are you doing?" Fiji, arm in arm with Bobo, paused as they were walking down the street.

He held up one finger to her. He could not speak, save for the ritual words.

"Manfred?" Bobo asked but Fiji's fingers tightened on his arm and she shook her head, understanding. Perhaps she felt the tingle of energy as Manfred did.

"I call upon the spirits," he said, with all the showmanship he'd use at a reading, fake or otherwise. "Cerberus, Guardian of the Underworld, I beg thee stand aside. Hades, God and King of the Underworld, I beg thee show mercy. Goddess Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, I beg thee for clemency. Goddess Hekate, I beg thee lead the way; bring the Lampades to light your way and escort the lost spirits back to this realm. The Nusartusio, the Beast of Xerokampos, is gone, killed on this very spot. Now, on this dark moon, restore his victims. By the magic in my blood, by the will of Kreonusi, so mote it be!"

The candle flames leapt high, the wax burning down completely in seconds. The mixture on the ground caught alight in one brief green flame. Grey smoke curled upwards. Every electric light in Midnight flickered.

Then it was over. And Olivia was stood in front of Manfred.

She was naked.

"It worked!" Olivia was delighted. Nearby, Fiji gasped.

"Yes!"

"I'm naked!"

"Yes," Manfred agreed again.

"Hey! Eyes up here!" Olivia gave him a playful punch on the arm. He winced. "Damn it feels good to be corporeal again!"

Fiji and Bobo approached, Bobo slipping off his jacket and holding it out to Olivia.

"That's really you?"

Olivia took his coat and flashed him a smile. "It's me."

Fiji wrapped Olivia in a hug. "Oh, Goddess. Olivia! Olivia!"

"I'll hug you when you're more dressed for it," Bobo offered. He nodded to Manfred. "You did this?"

"Yes." Manfred could scarcely believe it himself.

"You did good."

"We have to find Lem," Olivia said.

"We will, I promise," Fiji said. "But first, let's get you dressed. Then we'll go to Home Cooking and tell everyone you're back, and we'll figure things out from there."

Bobo pulled his keys from his jeans pocket. "I'll open up for you," he said, and Olivia began to follow him back towards the pawn store.

Fiji held back a moment. "Manfred." She stepped forward and lifted one hand to press her palm to his cheek. She understood. She knew what he'd been doing, what'd he'd been through.

"Thank you," she said softly.

He shrugged, unable to find anything appropriate to say.

"Go to Home Cooking," she said. "We'll all be there soon, and we can celebrate, okay?"

Then Fiji headed off to be with Olivia, and Manfred, dazed, wandered away, stunned at his success and overwhelmed by the power he'd wielded.

\-----

Manfred slept in, drained by the ritual and exhausted from relief and the praise heaped upon him, and, he had to admit, the amount of food he'd eaten and drinks he'd consumed during the celebrations probably played a part. He’d slept inside the house, collapsing onto the double bed with relief and enjoying the comfort after days back in the RV.

When he finally got up, he stood on the porch, mug of coffee in hand, relaxing in the morning sunshine.

"Hey."

He blinked. "Olivia."

"I brought cash," she said, patting the pocket of her leather jacket. "For all the stuff you had to buy to bring me back."

"You didn't have to."

"I keep my promises." She advanced on him. "And if you won't take the money, you'll at least let me take you to a nice restaurant."

"Maybe later. Last night was enough for a day or two."

She laughed. "I guess so. Thank you, Manfred. I owe you my life."

"I think I still owe you one, so I'll have to do it again for us to be even." He sipped his coffee. "No, please, I'd rather owe you. Let's not go through that again. Please stay alive."

Olivia rolled her eyes. To his surprise she leaned in and gave him one brief but unmistakable hug.

"I've got phone calls to make, but we'll talk later."

"Okay," he said. He watched Olivia walk away, hips swinging. She'd find Lem, he knew, and things would return to normal, or as normal as things ever were here.

Across the street Fiji was watering her plants while Mr Snuggly sat licking at his fur. Manfred raised his face to the sky and let the sun warm him. For the moment, all was well in Midnight, and he was content.

**Author's Note:**

> I took your prompt "Olivia dies and Manfred sees her everywhere but doesn’t tell anyone because together they are working on bringing her back " and I hope you enjoyed what I did with it :)  
> Many thanks to my beta Tinamour :)
> 
> [tumblr promo post](https://meridianrosewrites.tumblr.com/post/169462212132/meridianrose-the-ritual-of-kreonusi-3744-words)


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